Location,location, location: changes in the diversity of animal resources exploited by Tardiglacial humans in northern Spain

Prey diversity of Homo sapiens in north Iberia exhibited shifts associated with climate warming after the Last Glacial Maximum, as deduced from animal remains obtained from Upper Palaeolithic caves in Asturias (northern Spain). Significant association of prey diversity and river proximity was found during adverse climate conditions, indicating opportunistic predation. A high increase of prey diversity was found when small animals (including fish) were taken into account in archaeological records, highlighting the importance of this type of prey in Palaeolithic diets. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are assemblages of the fireworm Hermodice carunculata enhanced in sediments beneath offshore fish cages?

Abundances of the fireworm Hermodice carunculata were counted through a monitoring assessment study of fish cages in Barranco Hondo（NE Tenerife）. Seven campaigns were conducted from November 2007 to June 2010 and temporal variations were found, as well as differences among sampling stations. The polychaete H. carunculata obtained its highest abundance in sediments beneath fish cages throughout the study period. Thus, the assemblages of this omnivorous species were favoured by the presence of fish cages.     

Paleolithic vs. Epipaleolithic fisheries in northern Iberia

A comparison of Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic fisheries in NW Iberia shows an overall high trophic level of catch. Freshwater fisheries (and thus their impacts) are ca. 8000 yr older than marine fisheries and have suffered virtually no changes in the region except for the increase in numbers, being focused on two families (Salmonidae, and Anguillidae to a very minor extent). Marine fisheries in the Paleolithic likely had a low impact but rapidly increased in importance, raising the average trophic level of the catch, the number of affected taxa and the proportion of marine to freshwater fisheries with time.     

Calibration of Local Magnitude M<Subscript>L</Subscript> in the Azores Archipelago Based on Recent Digital Recordings

—The development of the digital seismic network in the Azores Archipelago during recent years made it possible to obtain the amplitudes (waveform) of recorded motion in a large set of stations. With this new data, maximum amplitudes of the Wood Anderson seismograph are computed, for each station/component, which, together with epicentral distances, allows for the estimation of local magnitude M _L . We used data recorded in 8 digital permanent three-component stations, with inter-stations distances up to 300 km, in the period June 1998 – June 2000, corresponding to a set of 1315 events with magnitude (M _L or M _D ) 2<M<5.8 and epicenters located in the Azores region, to estimate the coefficients of the equation to compute M _L , as well as to determine the corrections to be applied to each station. The new set of parameters, formed by attenuation coefficients and station corrections, were introduced in the calculations of the M _L , leading to smaller dispersions in the analyzed dataset. We also conclude that the attenuation in the first 150 km is similar to the California values, although higher for longer distances.     

Analysis of burnt schist outcrops in the alps: Relation to historical archaeology and Hannibal's crossing in 218 B.C.

Identification of the exact route followed by Hannibal during his invasion of Italia in the Second Punic War is one of the major questions of antiquity and one that historians/archaeologists have long studied. One of the many clues in the ancient literature that can help answer this question is the mention of fired rock, the result of a conflagration Hannibal is reputed to have employed to reduce the size of boulders in a blocking rockslide some distance down from the high col on the Italian side. The only route with evidence of fired rock along the roadway leading into Italia follows the Col du Clapier, one of the possible northern routes discussed by historians. Radiocarbon dating of calcined rocks is not possible, but whereas Time‐of‐Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM‐EDS), backscatter electron scanning microscopy (BSE), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM), and Raman Spectroscopic data do not provide an age for the burnt rock, compositional evidence of the conflagration derived from these analyses may shed light on Hannibal's actual route. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Litho-asthenospheric structures of northern Italy as inferred from teleseismic P-wave tomography

Regional three-dimensional inversions of teleseismic P-wave travel time residuals recorded by high-frequency regional and local seismic networks operating along the Western Alps and surrounding regions were carried out and lithosphere and upper mantle P-wave velocity models down to 300 km were obtained.

Residuals of more than 500 teleseismic events, recorded by 98 fixed and temporary seismic stations, have been inverted.

The comparison between real residuals and the ones obtained from tomographic model indicates that the method is able to solve the feature of the regional heterogeneities.

Where the resolution is good, coherent lithospheric and upper mantle structures are imaged. In the shallower layers, high- and low-velocity anomalies follow the structural behaviour of the Alpine-Apenninic chains showing the existence of very strong velocity contrasts. In the deepest layers, velocity contrast decreases however two deep-seated high-velocity structures are observed. The most extended in depth and approximately trending NE-SW has been interpreted as a wreck of the oldest subduction responsible of the Alpine orogenesis. The second one, connected to the northwestern sector of the Apenninic chain, appears to vanish at depths greater than 180 km and is probably due to still active Apenninic roots.

Cross-sections depict the spatial trend of perturbations and in particular outline the sub-vertical character of the Alpine and Apenninic anomalies. Under the Ligurian Sea, the 3-D inversion confirms the uplift of the asthenosphere in agreement with the tectonic evolution of the basin.     

10Be content in clasts from fallout suevitic breccia in drill cores from the Bosumtwi impact crater,Ghana: Clues to preimpact target distribution

Rocks from drill cores LB‐07A (crater fill) and LB‐08A (central uplift) into the Bosumtwi impact crater, Ghana, were analyzed for the presence of the cosmogenic radionuclide ¹⁰Be. The aim of the study was to determine the extent to which target rocks of various depths were mixed during the formation of the crater‐filling breccia, and also to detect meteoric water infiltration within the impactite layer. ¹⁰Be abundances above background were found in two (out of 24) samples from the LB‐07A core, and in none of five samples from the LB‐08A core. After excluding other possible explanations for an elevated ¹⁰Be signal, we conclude that it is most probably due to a preimpact origin of those clasts from target rocks close to the surface. Our results suggest that in‐crater breccias were well mixed during the impact cratering process. In addition, the lack of a ¹⁰Be signal within the rocks located very close to the lake sediment–impactite boundary suggests that infiltration of meteoric water below the postimpact crater floor was limited. This may suggest that the infiltration of the meteoric water within the crater takes place not through the aerial pore‐space, but rather through a localized system of fractures.     

Field testing cellulose-water oxygen isotope relations in periphyton for paleohydrological reconstructions

Journal of Paleolimnology - The oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) of aquatic cellulose extracted from lake sediment cores has long been used to reconstruct past hydrological responses to...     

What can we learn about changing ethnic diversity from the distributions of mixed-race individuals?

It is hypothesized that self-defined mixed-race persons live in residentially mixed areas in the largest metropolitan areas in California. The hypothesis is tested by examining the distribution of mixed-race persons among ethnically and racially diverse and nondiverse neighborhoods in the San Francisco and Los Angeles Metropolitan Areas. The research confirmed that mixed-race individuals are more likely to live in areas with ethnic diversity and that the tendency is greater for the mixed-race population in the San Francisco–Oakland Metropolitan Areas than in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. Mixed-race individuals live in neighborhoods which are diverse with mixes of all four major ethnic and racial groups, and in “well-off” (but not the most affluent) neighborhoods. The study also shows that the mixed-race population is youthful. The association of mixed-race individuals and racially integrated neighborhoods will have important implications for the evolving nature of spatial integration in California specifically, and the United States more generally.     

黄土孢粉分析的新途径——筛滤分析法

黄土-古土壤序列在全球古气候、古环境研究中占有不可替代的重要地位,而其中的孢粉是黄土高原生态环境演化过程中保存的直接生物学证据,它对建立黄土高原降水或湿度状况的时空变化特征,认识季风变迁的过程、规律以及未来发展趋势等具有重要的意义。随着黄土研究工作的不断深入,作为直接生物学证据的孢粉研究相对薄弱。其中最困扰的因素是从黄土中提取孢粉极其困难,分析技术上始终未能找到一个突破口,因此需要一种分析效果好、快捷、成本低的分析方法以获得大量高精度的孢粉数据。筛滤分析法正是为了适应黄土研究的需要而设计的一种新型的黄土孢粉分析方法。筛滤分析法利用真空状态下的气压差使样品在水中完全悬浮跳动,样品得到充分的冲洗并促使孢粉与其它无机质与有机质分离。相对真空的状态减少了微细颗粒对极为细小的网眼的阻塞,重力作用促使水及各类颗粒不断冲击筛网,使粒径小于10μm的物质较容易被过滤到聚水容器中,而孢粉与较少的大颗粒物质则被隔离在筛网之上,这使我们很容易用重液浮选出干净、清晰的孢粉底样。筛滤分析法与常规的黄土孢粉分析相比,具有以下特点:①大大降低了分析样品的重量及药品的消耗,一般仅需样品30 g左右,是常规分析法用量的1/6~1/8。②整个分析流程短, 12个样品一个流程仅需3~4 d。③筛滤分析法使孢粉几乎全部被隔离在筛网上而丢失极少,提高了黄土孢粉研究精度。④筛滤分析法几乎不破坏孢粉的结构,孢粉底样干净、清晰。使用筛滤分析法共分析耀县全新世黄土剖面69块孢粉样品,均发现数量不等的孢粉。孢粉底样干净、杂质少,结构清楚。共统计孢粉14978粒,分属27个科属,这些科属包括了黄土高原主要的孢粉类型。从孢粉结果可以初步确定,在全新世时期,位于黄土高原南缘的耀县地区,草本植物占全部孢粉总量的93.6%,而乔木植物仅占孢粉总量的4.7%。在整个剖面中没有出现乔木植物含量超过30%,可以认为在黄土高原的全新世时期是以草原植被为主,并无森林生长。